Submitted by Jared Earle on
Kenan Sofuoglu only needed to finish fourth to earn his third World Supersport title. With a damn but drying track, one would expect him to ride conservatively and take no risks. Anyone that follows Supersport racing, knows that's not what was going to happen.
Jules Cluzel, the only rider who could challenge Sofuoglu for the title, got the hole shot, leading by the first turn. Broc Parkes squeezed past to take the lead as Sam Lowes also pushed past a swathe of green bikes as Cluzel lost places going wide. Parkes led Fabien Foret and Sam Lowes while Sofuoglu trailed in sixth place.
Sofuoglu, however, doesn't usually lead races early, preferring to build up through the pack. Today was no different as he passed Foret then Cluzel as Broc Parkes and Sam Lowes swapped the lead back and forth. By the fourth lap, Sofuoglu had the lead, passing both Lowes and Parkes into the first turn, one by speed, the other by brakes.
The front five riders would fight for lap after lap, with Sofuoglu making mistakes, letting Parkes and Cluzel past, then Cluzel going wide, slowing Parkes enough for Sofuoglu to get back to the front.
Some laps, Kenan Sofuoglu would look over his shoulder on the straight, looking to see how his title placement looked and at other times, he would forget about the championship and ride on the limit. With all five of the top riders making mistakes, it came down to Sofuoglu looking like he'd settled in fourth place, but Sofuoglu isn't a settler. Jules Cluzel would go on to win the race, but Kenan Sofuoglu rode harder than he sensibly should have as clouds menaced the track to take second place and his third title.
As Cluzel promised to win the title next year, Sofuoglu parked up by the Turkish flags and changed into golden boots and returned to Parc Fermé a World Champion.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff |
1 | 16 | CLUZEL J | Honda CBR600RR | 1'47.416 | |
2 | 54 | SOFUOGLU K | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1'47.506 | 0.645 |
3 | 99 | FORET F | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1'47.656 | 0.969 |
4 | 23 | PARKES B | Honda CBR600RR | 1'47.568 | 1.035 |
5 | 11 | LOWES S | Honda CBR600RR | 1'47.462 | 3.905 |
6 | 32 | MORAIS S | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1'47.913 | 5.936 |
7 | 4 | LINFOOT D | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1'48.815 | 22.555 |
8 | 25 | BALDOLINI A | Triumph Daytona 675 | 1'48.657 | 22.595 |
9 | 34 | QUARMBY R | Honda CBR600RR | 1'48.288 | 23.121 |
10 | 20 | SCHOLTZ M | Honda CBR600RR | 1'48.748 | 23.740 |
11 | 55 | ROCCOLI M | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'48.828 | 24.516 |
12 | 65 | LEONOV V | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'48.641 | 25.609 |
13 | 8 | ANTONELLI A | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'48.784 | 25.617 |
14 | 3 | METCHER J | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'48.587 | 25.919 |
15 | 14 | TALMACSI G | Honda CBR600RR | 1'48.505 | 27.667 |
16 | 93 | MARINO F | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1'48.936 | 27.669 |
17 | 117 | PRAIA M | Honda CBR600RR | 1'48.729 | 30.246 |
18 | 53 | DEBISE V | Honda CBR600RR | 1'48.771 | 30.584 |
19 | 98 | LANUSSE R | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1'49.072 | 30.767 |
20 | 10 | TOTH I | Honda CBR600RR | 1'48.882 | 32.093 |
21 | 38 | NEMETH B | Honda CBR600RR | 1'49.072 | 52.261 |
22 | 40 | JESSOPP M | Honda CBR600RR | 1'50.281 | 1'13.403 |
23 | 78 | VLASOV S | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'50.592 | 1'13.599 |
24 | 125 | MARRANCONE D | Honda CBR600RR | 1'50.675 | 1'18.998 |
25 | 94 | MAURIN A | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1'51.663 | 1 Lap |
26 | 33 | POLZER Y | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'51.093 | 3 Laps |
27 | 7 | PASEK A | Honda CBR600RR | 1'53.968 | 5 Laps |
28 | 61 | MENGHI F | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'50.854 | 6 Laps |
29 | 87 | MARCONI L | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'49.850 | 10 Laps |
30 | 13 | LOMBARDI D | Honda CBR600RR | 1'49.676 | 11 Laps |
31 | 24 | BLOKHIN E | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'54.653 | 14 Laps |
32 | 22 | TAMBURINI R | Honda CBR600RR | ||
RET | 31 | IANNUZZO V | Triumph Daytona 675 | 18 Laps | |
Comments
Congratulations Kenan
He's a crazy boy... well done on another well deserved title.
Loose cannon
It's a well deserved title in the sense that he's very fast, won the most races and was consistently among the front runners and fighting for wins. On the other hand he was once again a lunatic on more than one occasion, and got away with it without serious penalty, the high-speed ramming attack on Foret being the worst incident in 2012 that we know of. I would liked to have seen another rider as champion. He is dangerous.
Congrats to Kawasaki though. They deserve some success by now.